What The Other People Said
by rhinosgirl
Summary: Dean seeks more advice on his Academy vs. University dilemma. A series of one-shots. Companion piece to "What Greg Said."
1. A Mother's Ultimatum

Dean sucked in a deep steadying breath as he stood with his gloved hand on the icy cold metal gate. He thought back to the late-night conversation with his father just a few days before. He had admitted to Greg that his mother didn't want him to be a cop.

What he hadn't admitted was that that statement came from more of a vibe than an actual conversation. A conversation that was going to happen today whether his mother liked it or not. He knocked sharply on the door.

"Dean, darling!" Joanne gushed, giving him a less-than-heartfelt hug. "I was so happy to hear from you. It's so wonderful that you've decided to visit us!"

"Hi, Mom," Dean replied, returning the embrace, and ignoring the barbed comment. He'd gotten used to them since he'd gone to live with his father, and, honestly, he hardly even noticed them anymore. He did wonder how "wonderful" Joanne would think his news was.

He found out later that afternoon, when they found themselves sitting alone in the garden.

"Mom, I need to ask your opinion on something," he ventured, nervously running his hand along the arm of the wooden seat he was perched on.

Joanne stopped rocking the garden swing she had reclined in and looked over at her son, surprised. It had been a long time since he had sought her advice on anything. Lately, that seemed to be _his _job. She refused to give him a name, that man who had betrayed her, tossed aside her love like it was a bag of garbage, and left her with no choice but to flee her home, penniless and starving, and with a small child in tow, no less! Yet, somehow, he had sucked her son back into his life, back into his affections, back into his home. But all was not lost. Dean was seeking her counsel, not his. She would not fail him. "Ask away!" she invited.

"So, here's the thing," Dean blurted. "I'm going to the Academy, but I got in to University as well. So which do you think I should do first?"

"Academy?" Joanne questioned uneasily. Please, no! She pleaded silently. Please, not him, not my son! "What Academy?"

Dean looked her in the eye, and instinctively she knew.

"NO," Joanne said forcefully. "You are not becoming one of _those._ Not now, not ever. You are going to go to University, first and only. You are going to become a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer, anything but . . . that!" she spat.

Dean leaned forward and took her hands in his. "Yes, Mom, I am. It's not a matter of if, but when. That's what I need some help in figuring out. I talked to Dad and"

Joanne pulled her hands away, interrupting his explanation. She got up and started to pace. She hated it when her son called Greg Parker 'Dad'. Every time he did it it was a slap in the face to Glenn, the man who had been in Dean's life far longer, and had been a far better role model, than _that man_ had been, and therefore should have exerted the greater influence over the boy. "I knew it," she interrupted him. "Of course _that man_ would want you to follow in his footsteps and the sooner the better. He didn't do anything for you as he grew up, so now he's desperate to vindicate his behaviour by brainwashing you into becoming his clone. He gets to think he must have done something right because you want to be like him, and he gets revenge on me by turning you into everything I hate. Well, I will not have it! I will not have you turning into a divorced, violent, irresponsible drunk like him."

Dean listened to his mother's tirade, stupefied. He knew his mother hated his father, and her opinion of him would never change. But he was not his father, and he had to make her see that. "I can't promise I'll never be divorced, I don't think anybody can ever promise that. But the alcoholism and the violence? That I can promise. I lived through it, too, remember?" He met his mother's troubled eyes and smiled sympathetically. "I'm either going to have a marriage like what you and Dad, and by that I mean Glenn, have or none at all. You're just going to have to trust me on that. Alcohol and abuse are not going to a part of my life, ever, and my choice of career will not change that. Not all violent drunks are cops, and not all cops are violent drunks."

"And you are going to be neither." Joanne faced him with her hands on her hips. "You are going to make your decision right now. Me or the Academy. If you step one toe in that place, you will never hear from me again, and all attempts to contact me will be blocked until the day I die. I will not lose another man I love to that profession." She turned and started walking away.

"Mom!" Dean called, running after her and grabbing her by the arm.

Joanne wrenched herself away and kept moving. "Do not touch me," she yelled back at him. "Not until you choose – your mother or your precious Academy. But be warned. You choose them, you lose me. Forever."

Dean sank to the ground in disbelief. It looked like the decision had been made for him.


	2. A Stepfather's Confusion

**A/N: In canon, Dean had been living with Glenn and Joanne for more than 10 years before he started living with Greg. Also, he originally sought out Greg because he wanted to take on Glenn's surname. So it stands to reason, in my mind anyway, that Dean would be calling both men "Dad" at this point.**

"Dean!"

The despondent teen lifted his head off the crook of his arms and waved half-heartedly to his stepfather, who had pulled his car up to the side of the road in front of the house.

Glenn reached over and pushed open the front passenger's door in silent invitation. "What are you doing outside with all your stuff? I thought we were going to have the pleasure of your company for a couple of days," Glenn commented light-heartedly, trying to break the ice. He didn't like the look of the teen's red and swollen eyes, or his pale skin. He briefly considered taking the boy straight to hospital, then decided to hear him out first. "Mom not home?"

"Oh, she's home alright." Dean picked up his bag and threw it in the back seat of the car, and then flopped himself into the front passenger seat. He leaned his head back and inhaled deeply. "I thought I was staying, too," he muttered. "Turns out I was wrong. My instincts were right on the button- Mum is dead set against me becoming a cop."

"Understandable." Glenn eyed his stepson with deep concern. Joanne's reluctance didn't explain why he had found his boy sitting on the side of the road like a little lost waif.

Dean turned his head toward the man who had been the father figure in his life for so many years, and, for the first time in some hours, smiled. "That's exactly what Dad said."

"Let me guess, your father also said he'd support you whatever you did," Glenn stated enquiringly.

Dean nodded assent.  
"I've never met the guy," Glenn began.  
"And if you did you'd probably knock him on his ass," Dean cut in, with a twinkle in his eye.

"But," Glenn continued as if he'd never been interrupted, "I tend to agree with him. I gather your mother doesn't."

"That's an understatement," Dean said drily.

"What did she say?" Glenn probed gently.

"That she'd disown me forever if I ever went to the Academy."

Glenn's face drained itself of all colour. "Are you sure? There's no way . . . " his voice trailed off. This was serious, really serious. The woman he married didn't mince words. She also didn't utter idle threats. If she said it, she meant it. Period. No questions asked and no leeway given.

"I totally understand her fears. Knowing my father back then, I wouldn't want me to follow in his footsteps in any way, shape, or form, either," Dean confessed. "I tried to get her to see that, that you and she have shown me exactly what a marriage relationship should be like." He turned and smiled gratefully at the man beside him. "Growing up, you were exactly what I needed. And I still need you, both of you."

"Just not in the same way," Glenn acknowledged. "And we need you, too."

"So how could she threaten to abandon her own child?" Dean's face paled even more at the thought, and Glenn surreptitiously looked around for something the boy could vomit into if need be.

"You didn't misunderstand her?" Glenn pressed gently.

"Ask her yourself," his stepson invited him tiredly.

"Oh, I will," the older man vowed. He and his wife would be having a major discussion in the not too distant future. He just hoped and prayed it wouldn't tear his family apart. He didn't know what he would do if he was forced to choose between the woman he loved and the young man he'd grown to love as his own son. "In the meantime, what are your plans for the next few days?"

"Hotel," Dean sighed. "Drive me?"

"Sure," Glenn agreed quietly, softly squeezing his boy's neck, partly in affection, mostly in support.

After they had driven a few miles, Dean broke the silence. "What do you think I should do?"

Glenn considered his answer carefully, realising it could shape his family's future. "Part of me agrees with your Mom and wants to force you to go to University. Keep the peace with her, keep you safe as long as I can. Except that you'd hate that and would probably end up hating me, and I don't want you to hate me. Part of me is cheering you on to your dream, except that attending the Academy means you are going into a really dangerous career and lifestyle, and I'd live in fear for the rest of my life of someone I love getting gravely hurt or killed. So I guess, I'd have to say that I would encourage you to attend University first, and then if you still want to enrol in the Academy, do it then."

"And you'd be okay with that then?" Dean confirmed.

"Yes," Glenn affirmed. His glasses slipped down and he automatically wriggled them back into place with his nose. Dean giggled, breaking the tension.

"Well, here we are," Glenn parked his car outside Dean's hotel. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Dean's eyes misted, and he quickly exited the car before his tears could show. "Not really," he admitted. "But Mom didn't give me a choice. I'm glad I've still got you on my side though," he smiled wanly, as he gathered his bags and walked quickly inside.

"Always, my son, always," Glenn murmured as he drove off, mentally preparing himself to battle with his wife for the future of his family.


End file.
